Colin Lindsay

...except that you can't get any these days...!

Part number 305686 if you can find any... and at present I can't. If I could find the actual spec - number of leaves and thicknesses - I suppose it's possible one could be remade, but it would cost a bit.

From Lindsay Porter's 'Guide to Restoration' features a section on the Club, and as I can't currently scan it I'll quote: "The club was formed with the aim of promoting and preserving all cars based on the Herald chassis including Heralds, Vitesses, Spitfires, GT6s and the Bond Equipe." "The club's name was derived from that given to the US export Vitesse which was aptly called the Sports Six.The number six is also relevant as the TSSC caters for six distinct vehicle types including the five given above with the sixth being 'Specials'. The club also has an Amphicar Register for the German built amphibious convertible." That's from Peter Williams who was the TSSC General Secretary and PR Officer at the time.

If you've ever tried to step over an electric fence in some farmer's field, and the wire has just brushed the inside of your upper thigh... well, it may not be fatal but it can certainly feel like it.

Oh Lord... those wonderful pre-Internet days! The size of the classified ads section in the mid-1980s issues speaks volumes...

Keep us updated especially if they're worth dealing with. I can forgive a company that spends more time in the workshop than on the computer if their product is worth the wait.

Lots of people, especially non-Triumph owners, know all about this, but few have ever actually seen it. 'They've just heard' is all you get. Every Motoring magazine that reviews our cars harks back to journalists pushing the cars to the limit, finding where they break away, and making an entire meal of it - usually by adding: 'but this has mostly been sorted nowadays' as if generations of owners have eradicated a problem. I've never had bother with any GT6 I've ever owned and as Nigel says you don't lift off mid-corner; judge the corner and your speed, enter the corner slowly enough, and accelerate away so that the car pulls you through the bend. I had a slight hoo-hah a few years back when I misjudged a corner at speed - I thought the road went straight ahead when in fact it was a slip road I could see, and the main road went round a very tight left-hand bend. I steered frantically at the last minute and the GT6 went round with not even a skid. Scared the life out of me, but the car was faultless.

The whole aspect of The Courier has changed quite a bit; obviously with the advent of home computing and the Internet information has become much more widely available to the Triumph owner and there are entire websites on our cars and their maintenance. The early Couriers were very much like a miniature Haynes manual of how to maintain them; over more recent years articles have moved more to the enjoyment and use of our cars rather than solely their maintenance. It's also amazingly difficult to find a topic that hasn't been covered in the last forty years; almost anything you think of has already been covered in depth and in some cases quite a few times. I think that's a challenge that isn't unique to The Courier alone, judging by the content of many current Classic magazines.

They used to have an Amphicar section in The Courier, written by David Chapman.

Not sure about Amphicar, wasn't it Bond? I think the last bit is shortened to 'Specials'. That brings back a lot of memories!

It was something really really simple and annoying me that I can't remember it! I can remember the article stating: "The basic engine puts out 38bhp but simply doing ******* gives an immediate boost to 45..." (I've quoted the figures I remember to try to jog the memory!) Now I'm going to have to go through all of my old books to see where I read that...

Morris Minor, by any chance? SU Carb is tilted but float chamber is level, so it can be easily fitted to a manifold adaptor for the Herald. That's true, Clive. I'm just thinking out loud as usual... but it's all for the future as I haven't started rebuilding the 1200 engine yet. I'm still working out which of the current bits can be saved before buying anything new.

Those look almost like mine for my 1200 engine, but more ports...! I've also got a blank Weber version that I'm debating adapting for the downdraught manifold... for no other reason than to see what happens. I'll be using a tubular exhaust manifold tho.

McD is not a great example to use as you can go large.... !! Almost everything these days from Broadband to Laptops has tips and tricks that you can use to squeeze a bit extra power from the basic model without having to use expensive add-ons; same as I want to do with my lowly 1200s, and I know it can be done very simply. As for buying anything else???? See Pete's post at the top of the page - as soon as he mentioned 'Cactus' I thought: 'Conifer.' It's too late for me, I'm afraid...

Put one at each end of the ward, then alternate them. It should rock the patients off to sleep nicely, or at least give them a nice tour of the place; up and down, up and down, up and down.

You've got that book, haven't you? "Everyday Modifications for your Triumph Spitfire, Herald, Vitesse and GT6?" 'You can fit a Toyota or Mazda engine but this will require substantial modifications to chassis, gearbox, drivetrain, rear axle and brakes...' Yep, the sort of thing we do everyday. There has to be something simpler...

Someone on another site was quite recently bemoaning the photos of our cars online, on sites such as Wikipedia. It seems authors of some entries have used their own cars, or photos of cars they know, which are often far from standard, as examples - the Courier Van is pictured with a Vitesse bonnet, and the Vitesse convertible has incorrect wheels. You'd think that an online encyclopaedia would, as a reference for many unaware of the subtle differences, need to have the proper items shown.

Is that the Richard Hudson Evan's book? Yep, got that... in fact got two and don't think I've completely read either. He starts at the bottom end, moves through cams and pistons to flywheels, and seemingly never once mentions carbs (unless I've missed that bit!). Does this mean he reckons the standard carbs are already up to the job? I also have the Gareth Thomas 'Tuning Manual for Standard Triumph Cars' but he starts with the Spitfire MK3 engine and discounts the 1147cc almost completely. Most of them go way over the top and talk about cams, boring the engines, porting manifolds etc as though the Herald (or usually Spitfire) is a race track car. I'm just wondering about the lazy-man's way of squeezing a few HP out of the engine of a factory-standard Herald and gaining better response, maybe a slight increase in fuel economy, rather than beating anyone away from the lights.

I know the Herald can be improved amazingly easily to gain half a dozen horsepower or so - as Clive says valves and cam, better manifold etc will make a huge difference but for a simple improvement I'm wondering how much a carb change alone would increase power. (I can't for the life of me remember what it was that adverts used to claim improved the Herald from 38bhp to 45bhp almost instantly with just a bolt-on replacement) I had a Scimitar wayyyy back and the enthusiasts were always saying that replacing the original carb with a Holley or whatever made quite a difference.

Wonder what it does to mobile phones? Just for badness I'd label it 'wireless magnetic charging station' and leave it out somewhere prominent...

Just as a query on an excellent topic - how 'like for like' would that have been? Why I'm wondering is: if you replace a pair of older design carbs with a more modern version which is a) more expensive and b) more efficient you'll obviously improve things considerably; but if you replace a single Solex on a Herald with twin carbs of the same era, say twin SUs, how much of an improvement will you get without replacing, for example, the cam as well? Over the years I've replaced the Solex on Heralds with single Stromberg 150, twin Stromberg 125s on an Alexander manifold, and twin SUs on a Spitfire manifold, and sad to say I've no idea if they actually improved anything at all as I kept all of the other parts as standard. I still have to try a single Weber on a 1200 engine, and have manifolds adapted to take a single SU, but need to have a running Herald first... so just looking for opinion!

I've just bought a set of the uprated ball-jointed anti-rollbar links, saw them at Stratford and liked the concept. Mine came from a company called Classic Driving Development and as they were at Stratford I bought these a month later online. (www.classicdrivingdevelopment.co.uk) They're double ball jointed and although the site states they're for MGB they have since manufactured them for Spitfire, TRs, GT6 and Stag. I've since seen versions for sale by other suppliers so there are other variations available. Search - literally - for uprated 'Triumph anti-roll bar links' and you'll see the different versions available, including uprated or polyurethane versions.

Cos they're wrong!! And I say so! (I meant generally if you can take the bulb out of a headlamp, not YOU as in Doug... because you can't. Not that YOU couldn't if you wanted to but you'd need the proper units to do that ie non-sealed sealed units.) I have quite a few of the sealed sealed-beam units in spares, but no real intention of ever using them - however to be REALLY confusing, I have some very old non-sealed units, and obviously the more modern ones fit for halogen bulbs. I always intended to try the older units with a more modern bulb, as they look period compared to the newer glass patterns, but will need to adapt the bulb holder first. Incidentally - quality control on modern bulbs is lacking a bit...

Sorry Doug - should have mentioned that I use new switches too. And column stalks. If you can take the bulbs out of your headlamps - like my early Herald version - then they're not sealed beam, just headlamps. Sealed beam are exactly what they say on the tin - or on the glass in some - they're sealed. Did you know - useless fact coming up - it was only in 1957 that car manufacturers were allowed to deviate from a set style of headlamp, thus allowing more modern vehicles to have all shapes and sizes provided they conformed to safety standards? Before that they were (nearly) all round and the same size, and made by a limited number of suppliers.

You don't need a pilot light (nor angel eyes) unless you really want them but you do need a pair with an E-marking to show they're suitable for EU / UK use. Beware the real cheapies online for this reason. I've used Wipac Quadoptics and Crystal Clearforms; the latter are superb in that the glass is totally clear, but they may not suit the purist who wants an original-looking Triumph. I've never bothered with adding relays and have had no problems in years of ownership, as I've usually replaced the wiring loom during restoration so the cables are all new; but no doubt other owners have had wiring problems and may advise accordingly. Paying around £25 - £30 will get you a set of either; unless you have deep pockets and can go for the RDX LED systems at about £250.